International Visitor Leadership Program

July 29, 2009Duke Law News

Professor Theresa Newman, executive director of the Center for Criminal Justice and Professional Responsibility, recently addressed an international delegation of lawyers participating in the International Visitor Leadership Program, organized by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Newman's talk responded to the lawyers' request for information about trends in U.S. legal training and curricular innovation intended to promote better legal skills. She used the Wrongful Convictions Clinic, which she co-directs with Professor Jim Coleman, as an example of a course that bridges the study and the practice of law.

The Program has four broad goals: (1) To examine the U.S. judicial system within the framework of the federalist model and the separation of powers; (2) To promote an appreciation for the rule of law and the advancement of fair, transparent, accessible and independent judiciaries around the world; (3) To observe the U.S. trial process, court management systems, alternate dispute resolution and mediation, and judicial training opportunities; and (4) To compare civil and criminal justice systems operating at the federal, state and municipal levels.

Lawyers participating in the Program hold a wide range of positions in their home countries, including judge, prosecutor, and law academic, and they hail from 20 different countries: Algeria, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Ghana, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Portugal, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.